Chelsea vs Juventus Tips: Alonso to pick up a booking in Champions League clash

Stamford Bridge plays host to a top-of-the-table clash on Tuesday evening, as Chelsea welcome Juventus to West London for this Champions League group stage game. The Old Lady remain one of only two sides to beat The Blues so far this season, which is a wrong that Thomas Tuchel will be looking to put right in order to secure qualification to the competition’s knockout stages.

The reigning Champions are second in Group H, three points behind their flawless visitors, but will take control of their own destiny with a convincing win here - and potentially book themselves an easier route into the quarter-finals. Their performance in Turin was lacklustre to say the least, but there’s a dynamism to Chelsea’s game recently that wasn’t there a couple of months ago. The return to fitness and form of wing-backs Reece James and Ben Chilwell has given them a dimension they didn’t previously have, and the injury to Romelu Lukaku has potentially been a blessing in disguise.

It has led to a less direct approach in attack - with James’ disallowed goal in the 3-0 win over Leicester at the weekend serving as proof of that. The Blues barely broke a sweat in their dismantling of the Foxes, maintaining their three point lead at the top of the Premier League table, with Antonio Rudiger bagging their 13th goal by a defender in the league. It meant Chelsea’s defence have now outscored six  Premier League teams, including London rivals Tottenham Hotspur, as well as contributing to a combined 21 Premier League goals (13 goals, 8 assists).

It was a case of ‘anything you can do, I can do better’ though for Leonardo Bonucci, who bagged a brace of penalties to guide Juventus past Lazio on Saturday evening. It was the third consecutive win of what has been a tumultuous season for ‘The Old Lady’, with that September victory over the hosts marking one of their high points.

They currently sit 8th in the pursuit to regain the Serie A title from rivals Inter Milan, having lost four of their opening 13 games. With no real goalscorer in the squad (Bonucci is tied for league top scorer on 3) it’s been tough going for them - underperforming their ‘expected goals for’ more than any other side in the division, by a 4.76 goals.

Massimiliano Allegri’s side have been flawless in the Champions League though, and will be boosted by the return to fitness of Paulo Dybala - who leads the way with 10 goals and assists in all competitions for Juve so far this season. The Argentina international has travelled with the squad from Turin, having not featured since November 6th, though the game comes too soon for Aaron Ramsey, Danilo, and Giorgio Chiellini.

For the hosts; they’re still without Mateo Kovacic due to a hamstring injury after his impressive start to the season, whilst Kai Havertz is suffering with his own hamstring issues and looks likely to miss out. The German has served as a centre-forward for the Blues in the absence of both Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner, though the duo could be poised for a return to action here. It is thought Lukaku will be available from the bench if his services are required, whilst Werner could get the nod up front in the absence of his compatriot Havertz.

Federico Chiesa has been one of the shining lights of Italian football over the last few months, having set alight the Euros over the summer.

He has managed two or more shots in four of his last five club starts, accumulating an average of 3.8 per game during that run. He managed two shots in the reverse fixture, scoring the winner for Juventus.

With Manchester United on the horizon for Chelsea it wouldn’t be a shock to see Thomas Tuchel rest a couple of his players, and I think Ben Chilwell could make way for Marcos Alonso on the left-hand side.

The Spaniard has started three of their four Champions League ties this season, and has earned himself three bookings in his last seven starts - including one against The Old Lady in Turin.

We landed a 10/1 winner on Ben Chilwell and his price plummeted the next week so I’m very shocked to see this price on Reece James - given he’s as short as 7/2 elsewhere.

The wing-back has been doing things only a handful of defenders can do in the last few weeks, and has arguably been Chelsea’s best player over the last month or so.

He’s scored three and assisted two in his last four starts for The Blues, and was unlucky not to score against Leicester at the weekend, registering eight shots in that time.

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